Early Times Report
NEW DELHI, Jan 9: Maternal use of antibiotics during pregnancy may raise the risk of babies developing Group B Streptococcus (GBS) disease - a common bacterial disease, according to a study.
While the bacteria usually live harmlessly in the gut or genital tract, they can cause serious infections, especially in newborns, older adults, and immuno compromised individuals, leading to sepsis, meningitis, and pneumonia
The study led by an international team from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, University of Antwerp in Belgium, showed that prenatal antibiotic exposure was associated with an increased risk of neonatal GBS disease, within four weeks of delivery. Early third-trimester exposure showed the strongest association.
"Prenatal antibiotic exposure can raise GBS risk within four weeks postpartum, especially in neonates not covered by risk-based intrapartum prophylaxis, with the early third trimester being a critical window of susceptibility," said the researchers in the paper in the Journal of Infection.
The team conducted a population-based cohort study including all singleton live births in Sweden from 2006 to 2016, using national registers.
Among 1,095,644 liveborn singletons, 24.5 per cent were exposed to antibiotics. |
